WATCH: Whip Up Alex Guarnaschelli’s Family Marinara Recipe

Ali Rosen is the host and founder of Potluck Video, a food and drink website that takes you behind the culinary scene with celebrity chefs, restaurateurs, producers, mixologists and more.
Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli may seem like she’s always in charge on the Food Network, but get her into the kitchen with her mother and suddenly it’s clear who the boss is.

Guarnaschelli says she started cooking by “watching my mother cook, being a spectator — a spectator more than anything — in her kitchen.” They cooked their way through the books of chefs like Julia Child and James Beard, Guarnaschelli says.

But one of her favorite recipes learned from her mom comes from their family’s Italian roots. It’s an easy version of classic marinara sauce, but with a twist: carrots!

The recipe “is very carrot heavy, it’s got a carroty kind of energy,” the Guarnaschelli says. “It takes 15 minutes from start to finish. I wish I had this ‘grandmother’s seven hour sauce over the stove, stir and wait’ kind of thing but we’re not waiters in our family. We don’t like to wait.”

Watch the video to hear more from Guarnaschelli and get the recipe. Pour it over pasta tonight!